


Meetings

by Marsalias



Series: Grandfather Clocks [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Clockwork and Danny getting to know one another, Found Family, Lost Time, set between TUE and Masters of All Time, the beginning of a beautiful relationship, the first positive interactions between these nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23702023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marsalias/pseuds/Marsalias
Summary: Danny was terrified of Clockwork.  Who wouldn't be?  But he was also horribly grateful.
Series: Grandfather Clocks [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706959
Comments: 28
Kudos: 393





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Danny and Clockwork's first meetings, between the Ultimate Enemy and Masters of All Time. I always thought that it was strange that Danny went right to Clockwork with the ecto-acne problem. I mean, time travel to solve the issue is good out of the box thinking, but it didn't feel like Danny and Clockwork were at a point in their relationship where Danny could ask him for help like that and expect to be helped at the end of TUE. Danny barely knew Clockwork. So this is what I think might have happened in-between.

The first time Danny met Clockwork, he was terrified. Clockwork was far, far more powerful than any ghost Danny had ever faced before, with the possible exception of Pariah Dark, and Clockwork had sent not one, but two powerful ghosts from the future after him. Three, if you counted SkulkTech as two ghosts.

They had called Danny evil. More than that, they had believed that he was evil. The ghosts Danny fought often hated him, but they had never called him _evil_. Ironically, only the humans he protected ever went that far.

Then, the images on those screens... He had gone into hardcore denial mode at once.

He desperately wished that Sam and Tucker hadn't come with him. This was way too dangerous for them to be involved.

.

The second time Danny met Clockwork, it was a relief. Seeing the older ghost there, his friends, his family, and teacher, alive, seeing them safe, sparked within him a gratitude so deep, so intense, it was painful. Clockwork could have told Danny anything in that moment, and he would have believed it. Could have asked him to do almost anything, and he would have done it.

If Clockwork had said he was still going to become... _that..._ Danny would have killed himself, then and there. If Clockwork had told him that in return for the lives of his family and friends, Danny would have to serve him, forever, Danny would have done just that.

But Clockwork didn't. Instead, the Master of Time had given him a few words of encouragement, and helped him _again,_ dropping him off before the CAT test even began.

.

The third time Danny met Clockwork, it was on purpose. He owed Clockwork. He owed Clockwork massively, owed him a debt that was so impossibly heavy that he knew that he would never, ever be able to repay it, and he hardly knew anything about the older ghost. Not to mention, the last time he had spoken to Clockwork, he had been in so much shock that he hadn't even been able to properly express his gratitude.

So he sought out Clockwork's tower. It was surprisingly easy to find. It was almost like something inside him was leading him towards the tower. Danny uncomfortably rubbed his chest, remembering when _he_ had painfully phased the time medallion into his chest, between his heart and his core. He shivered, but shook his head and continued on.

The doors of the clock tower swung open as Danny touched down in front of them. Clockwork must be expecting him... Which was only to be expected. Clockwork knew everything, after all.

Danny walked in, hesitantly, cautiously. The last time he had been here, he had been attacked, after all. "Hello?" he said, just loud enough to be heard over the ticking of the tower. "Hello?" he repeated a little louder. "Clockwork?"

"Hello, Daniel."

Danny jumped at the voice, jerking his head upwards to track it. Clockwork was there, about two stories up, doing something to one of the gears. He smiled down at Danny, and began drifting down.

"What brings you to Long Now?"

"I- um-" said Danny, still startled, and now a little sheepish. "Long Now?"

"That is the name of this place. My lair. Long Now."

"O-oh," said Danny. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to- I wanted to say thank you. For helping me before, and for saving Sam and Jazz and Tucker, and my parents, and Mr Lancer. And for giving me a second chance, even though I kept screwing up. And- and I wanted to say if there's ever anything I can do for you- I mean, I know that there probably isn't anything- but if there is- if there is I want to help you. S-so-"

"Daniel."

Danny looked up. He wondered when his eyes had dropped to the floor.

"I will certainly keep your offer in mind." The time ghost's smile widened slightly, and he held out a hand. "Here, take a cookie."

As he flew home, Danny reflected that it was one of the best cookies he had ever tasted.

.

The fourth time Danny met Clockwork, it was a surprise. He had been doing homework in the library at school, when suddenly he felt a weight around his neck, and all sound stopped. He looked up, trying to figure out what was wrong, only to see the Clockwork floating on the other side of the table.

His hand inched up to touch the time medallion around his neck. "Um," said Danny. "What's up?"

"Well," said Clockwork, his face serious, "it evolves that your help is needed."

Danny put his homework to the side. Clockwork had his full attention. "Okay," he said, "what can I do?"

Clockwork smiled just a little, and... well, he didn't stand. He hadn't really been sitting to begin with, either. He floated backwards and waved his hand, brassy blue ectoplasm swirling into a portal. He gestured at it, clearly intending for Danny to go first.

Danny called up his rings and shifted into his ghost form. He opted to float around the table rather than through it, and took a deep breath before he went through the portal.

It came out in Clockwork's tower... Long Now. Danny wasn't quite sure what he expected, to be honest. He looked around. This was the part of the tower with all the viewing screens and portals. Most of them were off, swirls of green and static, but one, the one he had come out directly opposite from, was on. He drifted closer to it, trying to make out what was happening.

There was a figure on the screen. It looked like Technus. It looked a _lot_ like Technus, but he hadn't the cloud of floating technological detritus that always accompanied the technology-obsessed ghost. Then there was the location. It looked like Technus was in the middle of a forest, a dense forest, which was weird. Technus didn't even like going into the park. He wasn't really doing anything, either. He was just... Flying.

"The issue," said Clockwork, startling Danny yet again, "is that our friend, Technus, has fallen through a natural portal into pre-Columbian North America."

"Pre-Columbian...?" The term wasn't entirely alien to Danny, so he supposed that if he was a better student, with more time to study, he would know what it meant.

"Before the year 1492. Before Cristopher Columbus reached the Americas."

"Okay. So..."

"So, not only has he been unable to satisfy his technological obsession, his other obsessions have been driving him to torment the locals. He needs to be brought back to this time."

Danny frowned. That was serious, both for Technus and the time line. Apart from whatever Technus was doing, he didn't wish the fate of an unquenchable obsession on anyone. But there was something bothering him. "Not that I don't want to help, but why not just open another portal in front of him?"

"Ah, the root of the matter. I am, unfortunately, bound by certain rules. Rules that I agreed to. You are familiar with the Observant Council."

It wasn't a question, but Danny felt the need to nod regardless. He'd only the one encounter with them, a random run-in while exploring the Zone, but it wasn't one he was keen on repeating. Ever.

"I cannot, therefore, interfere directly. On the other hand, I can tell you that another portal leading to this time will be opening soon, and where."

"Okay," said Danny. "I _will_ be able to get back, though, right?" he asked, suddenly nervous.

"Yes," said Clockwork.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clockwork's view of events.

It would be hard to pinpoint the 'first' time Clockwork had encountered Daniel. This was a common problem for people who did not exist in a single, straight, temporal line. It became even more difficult when taking into account the way that the Observants continually interfered with Clockwork's powers.

However, if Clockwork was forced to pick a time, he would say that he first met Daniel when the later was only hours old.

It was a ritual of Clockwork's. Whenever a person whose decisions would drastically change the flow of history was born, Clockwork would visit him, or her, as the case might be. He had done this for Alexander the Great, for Cleopatra, for Cincinnatus, for George Washington, for Hitler.

He did it for Daniel Janus James Fenton.

He came in the guise of a doctor. He wore a white coat, his eyes were red-brown, his skin was pale, marred only by the scar forced on him by the Observants. In short, he did not look at all like a ghost.

The child was sleeping in his crib. Tiny. Delicate. Full of potential. Clockwork laid a gentle hand on his cheek, and let the possible futures spool into his mind. He briefly touched the more vibrant ones, frowning when he found that several were obscured, the Observants in those time-lines blocking his powers.

His smile returned, however, when he touched on others. Here was the boy as a scientist. As an astronaut. As a soldier. Standing in congress, giving a speech. Here he was with his wife, and children. With his wife and their dog. Here he was at a book signing. Here he was, playing chess with his adoptive father. Watching a movie with his girlfriend. With his boyfriend. With his sister. With his sisters.

There were other, darker, futures. So often, the child died young.

Clockwork plucked one dark gem from the flood. He saw Daniel, no older than ten, perched on a throne far too large for him, his hair white, his eyes a luminous blue, an icy crown tangled in his hair. To his left stood another ghost, a dark-skinned young man wearing an ornamented headdress and Egyptian linens. To his right stood a human woman with black hair and violet eyes. An army of ghosts knelt before them.

So often, almost always, he stepped across the dividing line, into the Infinite Realms, no matter his age.

Only a few futures were tarnished with what Clockwork would call evil, and those, only lightly. Clockwork never liked looking at these blackened futures, even less so for someone who could be so glorious.

In this one, Daniel was vengeance, doling out retribution for his parents' deaths. In another, he was a conqueror, gathering all the Realms together. In a third, he was human, but ruthless, a businessman like his godfather. The number of these was infinite, but smaller than that of the bright ones. Not all infinities were equal.

Clockwork removed his hand. It was now up to Daniel to choose his future.

.

The next time Clockwork crossed paths with Daniel was very different. Clockwork had a radically different goal. He had been watching Daniel for some time, he had one of the more interesting time-lines of Clockwork's experience, and he was a charming child, and a good person, but it was his future that Clockwork was now focused on. A future that Clockwork might be able to share.

How ironic, that the Observants had shown him the path to that happy future, while they asked him to kill Daniel. It was a one-in-a-trillion future, impossible to reach without paradoxes. Fitting, for the Master of Time. Of course, once he had set foot on the path to that future, it splintered and diverged into a thousand more. Such was time.

Having a different goal, Clockwork had to take a different approach.

Hence his current preoccupation with his appearance.

He had to choose it carefully. He couldn't go with one of his typical guises. Clearly, he couldn't use a human appearance. He couldn't opt for anything he used in the presence of the Observants. He didn't want to terrify the child. He didn't exactly have a 'true' form.

Here was the problem: he had to be threatening enough, sinister enough, that Daniel wouldn't hesitate to fight him, but approachable enough that Daniel wouldn't refuse to seek him out later. He had to be frightening, and alien, but also familiar, paternal, reliable. Someone Daniel could turn to for help, someone Daniel could trust.

Much of this would be communicated through his actions, Clockwork knew, but the way he presented himself could make a radical difference.

He had spent the last eternity (literally, he had stopped time) cycling through options. He had already discarded anything monstrous, anything too far from human. All his current options had a face with two eyes, a mouth, a nose, ears, two arms, hands with five fingers... Human features, human proportions. He had become partial to placing a slight gap between his two front teeth sometime in the last several hundred iterations. Other features, too, were constant, the scar across his eye, the timepiece embedded in his chest, the staff in his hand.

As he continued, he continued to weed out options, make decisions. He settled on a color scheme, eerie, solid-color ruby eyes, white hair, blue skin, purple robes. He settled on a set of features. He liked having a slight downward curve to his nose, heavy eyebrows, a tilt to his eyes. What he couldn't settle on, however, was an age.

He frowned at his reflection, as he increased and decreased his apparent age. Too young, and Daniel either wouldn't respect him, or would think of him as a friend, or brother, instead of a mentor, or parent, not to mention he might not fight him, if he appeared to be a child. He didn't want to set off Daniel's protective instincts. Too old, and he faced a similar problem. Daniel was still partially human, after all, he would associate apparent old age with fragility. Then, as an adult, in the prime of his life, he looked sly, and crafty, which, despite being true (he was doing _this,_ after all) was not the impression he wanted to give.

So Clockwork scrolled through his ages, growing young, then old, then young again. Then it struck him. This. This was _perfect._ He was the Master of Time. It should leave its mark on him in more than just symbols of timekeeping. He could do this, changing ages, until he could determine which one Daniel liked the most. As a bonus, it would confuse the Observants. In fact, he liked this so much that he reached backwards, tapping his former self on the shoulder, something he did rarely, because of how much energy it took, and showed himself the new form. He felt history change around him, and smiled. He was ready now.

.

Clockwork was thrilled when Daniel first sought him out. He had to remind himself to move slowly, to be gentle, calm. He didn't want to frighten the child by being too enthusiastic. He needed Daniel to get used to him, to become comfortable, and that would take time. He had to be patient, as he had been for so long.

But Daniel was such a good child, such a good person, coming to thank him like this, even though he was still obviously somewhat nervous around him. Clockwork didn't blame him. Their earlier meetings hadn't all been amicable. But Clockwork had a plan to put him at ease, and that plan started with smiles and cookies.

He watched Daniel leave, smiling. Everything was going so well.

.

Clockwork knew that he wold have to make the next move. Daniel wouldn't want to bother him for help, and he would be too shy to visit him uninvited. So Clockwork waited for an appropriate excuse to arise, something to happen so that Clockwork could ask for Daniel's aid.

True, Clockwork could resolve the incident on his own, but this solution would be better for everyone involved, including himself. Sending Daniel would, at the very least, keep the Observants out of it. They did not, could not, keep track of Daniel the way they did Clockwork. Daniel and Technus were known to one another. Potentially, this could soften their relationship as well (it was a long shot, though. Technus and Daniel had been rivals for some time). Clockwork wouldn't have to appear before Technus, and frighten him.

Then, once the fighting was done, there would be a treat for Daniel. Something Clockwork knew Daniel would appreciate.

So, despite his serious facade, Clockwork's heart was light, as he saw Daniel off, because he knew that everything was the way it was supposed to be.


	3. Chapter 3

It hadn't taken long for Danny to defeat Technus. The technological ghost hadn't been himself. Agitated. Hyperactive and slow at the same time. Beside himself. Upset. Hysterical, at times. Usually, Technus was a challenge. He always had a least an outline of a plan, but now, he was relying on brute strength, and, although he wasn't a font of wit even at the best of times, here, he was reduced to guttural growls without any linguistic value whatsoever. It was a bit of a surprise, actually.

Technus almost seemed relieved, when Danny sucked him into the thermos. That made sense. It was probably the only piece of advanced technology in the world. Danny held the thermos close. The thought of being cut off from part of his obsession like that... It was terrifying. Being trapped here, away from Amity, his family, his friends, and even the Ghost Zone, it might drive him insane. Even now, he felt a little off-balance, unable to point himself to home, or even to feel where he had died. (Tucker called it his ghost homing instinct. Danny wished that he could come up with a better name for it.)

(Danny might have just been the tiniest bit worried that he'd be stuck here. Not that he would blame Clockwork, if that happened. If it did, then he knew that it was supposed to happen. That it needed to happen.)

Danny breathed out, and floated up above the trees. It was a little strange breathing here, with the air so clear and sharp, and it was fascinating, seeing the forest stretch from horizon to horizon, a few trails of smoke being the only sign of human habitation. He flicked himself to invisibility, deciding to explore while he waited for another portal to open.

The trees and plants were a bit different than what he was used to, but whether that was because he was over half a millennium in the past, or because he was several hundred miles from where his home would some day be, he couldn't say. He gathered a few of the more interesting-looking flowers for Sam. He would, of course, ask Clockwork if it was safe to bring them home. He had listened to enough of Sam's lectures about invasive species, and Tucker's speculations on time travel and disease, to know that doing otherwise would be silly.

He came across a stream, a small river, really, and played with it for about half an hour. It was fun to dive in and out of the water intangibly, examining polished and sparkling rocks, river plants, and tiny, fingernail-length fish.

Danny wished he had a camera with him. Sam would go wild for this. Tucker, not so much, but, hey, he'd be interested in the time travel part. Oh, and Jazz would probably be interested, too.

After a while, he drifted up above the trees again. The sun was just beginning to set, dying the clouds red, orange, and pink. He watched it slowly sink down below the horizon.

The planets began to come out. Mercury, just above the horizon, then Venus. A few minutes later, the wind picked up, and swept the clouds off, to the east, leaving the sky a clear and deepening navy blue. Danny reoriented himself so that he was floating on his back, and watched, carefully, quietly. He wasn't going to miss a chance to see the night sky without light pollution or smog.

The stars began to come out, then. Sirius, then Arcturus, then all the others. Danny's ghostly vision could pick up more in the dark, so he had become used to seeing more stars than was usually possible for humans. Still, he was surprised by how quickly the sky filled with all the familiar stars, and then overflowed. The Milky Way was painted across the sky in all it's glory, and Danny finally understood how it had gotten it's name. Like this, it really did look like someone had spilled milk on the sky. It was scintillating, and brilliant, the stars that made it up every color but green.

The moon came up as Danny watched, waning and gibbous, so bright that it cast shadows from the trees, and hurt Danny's eyes.

The temperature dropped as time went on, but Danny didn't mind. When he was in ghost form, the cold didn't bother him. He just watched the stars, tracing constellations, watching them progress up over the eastern horizon before setting in the west.

Around midnight, something changed. Danny felt a slight tug on his core, and his 'homing instinct' (gosh, he really needed to find a better name for that) kicked in, leading him to the southwest. That had to be a portal. He shot one last, slightly regretful, look at the sky, and sped towards the portal. He didn't know how long it would be open for, after all, and, despite the beautiful skies, he had no intention of being stranded here.

Thankfully, he came out of the portal in an area of the Ghost Zone that was familiar to him. That had been a concern, too, if less of one. Now, he adjusted his trajectory, Clockwork's tower, Long Now, he corrected himself, should be this way.

As he landed on Clockwork's doorstep, he tried to catalog his emotions. He was oddly excited. Expectant, almost. His heartbeat was faster than in usually was when he was in ghost form, and his core was almost vibrating. He bounced on one foot, trying to calm himself. There was no reason to feel this way. He had just done what Clockwork had asked him to do. That's all. This didn't even put a dent in how much he still owed Clockwork.

At last, having worked himself into a state of nervous confusion, Danny went in. Clockwork was waiting there, in front of one of his viewing screens. The scene wasn't familiar to Danny, ghosts, at some sort of celebration. He turned, to smile, gently at Danny. Danny, automatically, smiled back. He stepped forward.

(His core was doing something very strange right now.)

"Hello, Daniel," said Clockwork, shifting from child form to adult form. "I'm glad to see that you've found your way safely back."

"Me too," said Danny. "I have Technus here," he said, offering up the thermos. "I wasn't sure if I should just let him go, or bring him here, or what, so... Um..."

"You've done well," said Clockwork, still smiling, floating to Danny. He put a light hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny, unconsciously, leaned into the touch. He had been tiring, after the fight and the long day, but now he felt energized. "I will make sure that Technus is released in the vicinity of his lair," Clockwork continued, taking the thermos.

"Thank you," said Danny.

"Would you like a cookie?" asked Clockwork.

"Um, sure."


End file.
